Monthly Bulletin - Clpdigital.org

318 CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF PITTSBURGH
measures to thwart his designs. In the second, the tragedy is related
of Schumann's mental decline and death, and the same volume has
much to say about the widow's subsequent friendship with Brahms and
her experiences as a concert pianist and teacher. About her were
grouped Joachim, Bargiel, and other foes of Wagner and Liszt, whose
antics and opinions, as recorded in these pages, give further interest to
Litzmann's volumes.. .
Most of the details regarding Schumann's illness have long been
known, but none are so pathetic as those written by his wife and widow
in her diary, now first made public. His death left her with a family of
four girls and three boys, the oldest being only fifteen, while the
youngest had never seen his father. In these days of grief the friendship
of Brahms was a great solace...
The friendship between Clara Schumann and Brahms is almost as
interestingly told in these pages as her courtship with Robert. Though
she travelled much, to support her large family by recitals, they met
wherever it was possible, and often made long tours on foot together.
Like her husband, she took to his music passionately from the beginning,
and soon there was hardly a musical god beside him. The fervor
of the most rabid Wagnerites pales into insignificance by the side of
her frenetic enthusiasm for Brahms. She quarrelled with her friend
Jenny Lind because that great artist refused to worship at the same
shrine. She broke lances for Brahms daily. In Hamburg, his birthtown,
she was so happy because he conducted for her that not even
'the stupidity of the audience,' which gave 'no mark of sympathy' and
did not even show 'proper respect' for him, annoyed her. His music
moved her to tears. More and more it monopolized her affection, until,
in 1884, we find this entry in the diary: 'How sad it is that there is no
one but Brahms whom one can look up to and admire as an artist'...
A list of Clara Schumann's own compositions is given in the second
volume; some of them had considerable vogue for a time. Of greater
interest are the eleven pages devoted to a list of the works she studied
or played in public in the years 1824 to 1889. Her experiences as a
concert pianist in Germany, France, and England make interesting
reading, and the devotees of Brahms will eagerly peruse the letters he
wrote to Clara Schumann." Nation, 1913.
Zone Policeman 88
(Call number 92 S3922H)
By Harry A. Franck
"Harry A. Franck's method of travelling is unconventional. He
avoids the beaten track of the tourist, the observation car, the fashionable
hotel, and it is not surprising to find his book on the Panama
Canal coming out with the title. 'Zone Policeman—No. 88.' It is a small
band of constables in khaki, this Zone police force, but it manages to
keep order among 60,000 workers of many breeds and colors. Mr.
Franck had his share of adventures in running down law-breakers, but